Gathering Leaves

The Blue

In the North, there is only one instance of military service during the Civil War that I am certain of and that is my gg-grandfather, Francis Gaume, who served in two different Ohio infantry units in 1862/63 and 1864...

The Blue

Battle Flag of the 19th OVI

The O'Malley family of my paternal grandmother was living in Minnesota at the outset of the war, but Patrick O'Malley, my great-grandfather, was only ten years old in 1861 and his father, Martin, was thirty-six at the time. A search of Ancestry.com for Civil War service records for Martin O'Malley (or O'Mallea as the name was commonly spelled then) turns up empty.

In the North, there is only one instance of military service during the Civil War that I am certain of and that is my gg-grandfather, Francis Gaume, who served in two different Ohio infantry units in 1862/63 and 1864. In July of 2000, I sent off to the National Archives & Records Administration (NARA) for the Civil War pension records of my gg-grandfather Francis Gaume, father of Della Gaume and grandfather of L. J. DeBacker. I received a package of 25 pages three months later. To obtain my gg-grandfather's pension records I first did a search of the Civil War Pension Index at Ancestory.com.

Here is the card that I found:

Frank Gaume's Civil War Pension Record

With this information in hand, I visited the National Archives web-site and ordered NATF Form 85. The cost for receiving the documents was a mere ten dollars.

Frank Gaume, age 47, filed for a pension the first time in July of 1890 in Fort Morgan, Morgan Co., Colorado. Reason for pension request "Rupture in right side and also lost the hearing of my left ear while in service caused by the discharge of a gun at stone river near Murfreesborough [sic], Tenn."

It was in 1890 that the US Congress first approved pensions for Civil War veterans. It appears that it took Frank a number years to finally receive his pension. A document from the Bureau of Pensions dated Oct 25, 1893 states that at that time the government could not find Frank Gaume on the rolls of neither the 19th OVI, nor the 162nd OVI. That must have been resolved because it appears that he entered the National Military Home at Leavenworth, Kansas in 1904. He filed for a pension again in 1912 and finally began receiving his pension of $20 a month in 1913. He died Oct 9, 1917.

There was a lot of information provided in these documents some of which is discussed in the next chapter, but the information regarding the two Union army units that Frank served in allowed me to expand on that by further researching the history of the units themselves.

On October 3, 1862, Francis Gaume enlisted under the name Frank Gaume, at the age of 17, as a Private at Mansfield, Ohio in Company "I" of the 19th Regiment of the Ohio Volunteer Infantry (OVI). During this time of the Civil War, the state of Ohio was in a panic over the possibility that Confederate forces would soon invade. The Governor of Ohio had offered a bonus for volunteers and several communities in Ohio, in addition, offered added bonuses. Added up, the bonuses ranged from anywhere from less than a hundred dollars to as high as $500. Well-to-do young men wishing to avoid service were allowed to pay stand-ins to take their place in the draft. This was to be first of two enlistments for Frank Gaume. He became what was known during the war as a "repeater".

From A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion by Frank Dyer (c. 1890), I was able to follow the progress of both units that Frank Gaume served in. On October 8, 1862, only a few short days after his enlistment, his unit the 19th Ohio volunteers were in reserve at the Battle of Perryville, Kentucky. During this time, the 19th OVI was attached to the 11th Brigade, 5th Division, 2nd Corps, Army of the Ohio, to November 1862. It transferred to the 1st Brigade, 3rd Division, Left Wing, 14th Army Corps (Army of the Cumberland), until January 1863. Making the chain of command or order of the battle to be as follows: Maj. Gen. William S. Rosecrans commanding the Army of the Cumberland; Left Wing: Maj. Gen. Thomas L. Crittenden; Third Division: Brig. Gen. Horatio P. Van Cleve; First Brigade: Col. Samuel Beatty; and the 19th Regiment of the Ohio Volunteer Infantry under the command of Major Charles F. Manderson.

Following the Battle of Perryville, the 19th OVI was on march to Nashville, Tennessee, from October 16-November 7, and on duty there till December 26. The 19th OVI advanced on Murfreesboro, Tennessee, December 26-30 and was present at the Battle of Stones River (Murfreesboro) (December 30-31, and January 1-3, 1863.)

After his retreat from Perryville, Kentucky, Confederate General Braxton Bragg ordered his army to concentrate near Murfreesboro, Tennessee, southeast of Nashville and prepare winter quarters. In late December, General William S. Rosecrans, leading the Union Army of the Cumberland, decided to move his troops out of Nashville and engage the Confederates near the banks of Stones River outside of the town of Murfreesboro. The battle that followed lasted five days with most of the heavy fighting taking place on New Year's Eve day and on 2 January. The overall details of the battle can be found in Peter Cozzens' book No Better Place to Die (1990) and in the official report on the battle presented by General Rosecrans to the U.S. Congress. Rosecrans' report to Congress was made up of reports made by individual field commanders. The two reports supplied by Major Manderson, commander of the 19th OVI, provide us with the specifics of what Frank Gaume's unit endured during the battle.

For the 19th Ohio Volunteers, New Year's Eve day 1862 started off with some awkward maneuvering as the unit was first ordered to go one way and then another, all in the midst of the confusion of the battlefield. Colonel Manderson's report on the events of Dec 31 provides the details of his regiment's experiences of that day:

"About 10 o'clock we were ordered to recall our skirmishers and re-cross the river, which being done we moved by the right flank across the open space between the railroad and pike, amidst the greatest confusion of retreating batteries, men, teams, and ambulances. At this point General Rousseau ordered the regiment to move across the turnpike, and form line in the woods, skirting the west of the pike. From this position we were immediately ordered by Colonel Beatty to march by the left flank back to the railroad, and then by the right flank back to our former position in the last-named woods, under a fire by which we lost several men. This scene was one of disorder and panic: regiment after regiment swept through our lines in the greatest confusion but through it all our men preserved an unbroken front, and, when the pursuing enemy came within seventy-five or one hundred yards, and our front was clear of the retreating and broken columns, at the order to fire by file, poured most destructive volleys into the foe, breaking his lines into disorder."

Seeing that the units of the First Brigade were making progress against the rebels, Rosecrans ordered his troops to advance. Manderson continues his report on the events of the 31st:

"Major General Rosecrans, who was in the rear of the right of the regiment, cheering our men with his presence and words, then ordered a charge, and our regiment, with fixed bayonets, supported by the 9th Kentucky volunteers on our left, and the 79th Indiana volunteers in our rear, drove the foe in splendid style for about one-fourth of a mile, when our ammunition running low, the front, line wheeled into column, and the 79th Indiana volunteers passed through to the front."

Running low on ammunition the 19th OVI fell back towards a wooded area that has been dubbed "Hell's Half-Acre" in some histories, allowing the other units of their brigade to move forward. The day ended for the 19th OVI as it had begun with its lines of formation being overrun by retreating soldiers and coming under fire from both foe and friend:

"The regiment then forming the second line, (in the rear of the 79th Indiana volunteers) advanced for about three-fourths of mile to an open field, where we were separated from our front line by a cedar thicket. We were here but a few minutes when our right support gave way, and left our regiment greatly exposed to flanking fire. I sent word twice to Colonel Beatty that the enemy had flanked our position in great force, but received no order. The regiment was suffering most terribly from the fire; and seeing the enemy within fifty yards of our right, and in position to destroy us, I ordered a change of front to the right and rear. Our men, while executing the movement were thrown into temporary disorder by the scattered regiments on our right pouring through the line, but gathered on the instant, formed an excellent line in good position, and fired with such precision that, with the aid of a battery of artillery in our rear and left, we held the ground and drove the foe from the open field in our front. Being now entirely out of ammunition, and suffering loss from the fire of our own artillery, we moved by the right flank into the woods and formed line on the left of the 2d brigade."

In morning of the following day, New Years Day, the 19th OVI stayed in the rear caring for their wounded and resting after having done picket duty along the railroad throughout the night. Combat is never pleasant and the bad conditions were made even worse for both sides by freezing rain, fog, and mud. On New Year's Day afternoon, the 19th OVI took up a position near the high bank on Stones River and remained there in reserve until the afternoon of the next day. Manderson's report for Friday, January 2, described how the 19th Ohio volunteers beat off a rebel attack, engaging them briefly in hand-to-hand combat, and rallying retreating remnants of other regiments to re-take the field. Before the afternoon was over what had started out as the beginnings of a rout turned into a scene of jubilation on the part of the troops of the 19th OVI as they proudly hoisted their colors over artillery pieces captured from the enemy:

"Soon after 4 o'clock p. m. heavy firing on our front caused us to take arms and stand in line. The firing had continued about fifteen minutes, when Lieutenant Murdock, aide-de-camp to Colonel Beatty, commanding 3d division, rode up to the front and left of the regiment and ordered me to advance. Although the order, coming from that source, was contrary to rule and custom, presuming the occasion to be an emergency requiring such a deviation, I ordered the regiment forward in double-quick time. We advanced up a gradual slope for about two hundred yards, the lines in front of us pouring through our ranks in confusion, but the men preserved an excellent front, and rushed upon the enemy. In some parts of the line our pieces crossed those of the foe. His front line received a check of some few minutes, and was thrown into disorder; but a strong flanking party poured over the bank of the river, and broke our right flank to the rear, file after file. Seeing this, and that brave officers and many men on our right wing had fallen, I ordered the left to fall back. Colonel B. C. Grider, commanding 1st brigade, here rode up to me from the left and front, and wished me to rally the men. I told him they were falling back by order; that the enemy had flanked me in force; and that I would form a line at the foot of the hill. He said, "Do so;" and stated he would give the same order to the 9th Kentucky volunteers, on our left. The regiment rallied, and, forming line twice before the overwhelming force of the enemy, drove them across Stone river. The storm of missiles was terrific, and, for a few moments, no men could have stood under it. The bank of the river presented a scene of indescribable confusion. The colors of our regiment were seized by Second Lieutenant Philip Reefy, of company F, who gallantly dashed forward across the stream, followed by daring spirits of different regiments. At the same time Colonel Grider, bearing the colors of the 9th Kentucky volunteers, crossed with another party, and these flags, with two belonging to other regiments, rallied under their folds an indiscriminate mass of men and officers of the 3d division. which, supported by fresh troops that had been ordered to the conflict, drove back, in terrible confusion, the columns of the enemy, victorious but a moment before. The colors of the 19th Ohio and 9th Kentucky were placed on three pieces of the enemy's artillery, which were captured and brought into our lines by squads composed of the different regiments and brigades of the division. After this magnificent scene of individual heroism, the different detachments of the regiment formed on the same ground we occupied in the morning, and bivouacked that night."

Colonel B. C. Grider, Manderson's commanding officer, gave his report on the events of the afternoon of 2 Jan:

"The onset of the enemy, sustained as they were by their artillery, succeeded in breaking and driving back our first and second lines. You now sent me and order to bring up the reserve, which I instantly did, though it was almost; manifest, from the character of the fire in front, that the force we had on the ground, unassisted as we at that moment were by artillery, could not check the enemy's advance. Yet our men (the Nineteenth Ohio, Ninth Kentucky, and Eleventh Kentucky), undaunted by the terrible and desperate state of affairs, with bravery that cannot be described, and led on by their officers, the most cool and daring, moved forward, some through a thick undergrowth of wild briers, which to some extent broke their lines, fearlessly meeting the enemy and breaking his first line. Seeing this from my position, between and slightly in front of the Nineteenth Ohio and Ninth Kentucky, and noticing you just in my rear, I said to you, "Colonel, we have them checked; give us artillery and we will whip them." You replied, "You shall have it."

"I rode back and soon saw the right regiment (the Nineteenth Ohio) falling back. Calling to Major Manderson, who halted and came back, I said to him, "Major, the Ninth is still standing; let us rally the Nineteenth and sustain her." The major replied, "We are flanked on our right; we had better fall back and rally at the foot of the hill, if we can." I told him to do so, and I would order the Ninth and Eleventh Kentucky to do the same. I rode forward for this purpose, but just as I was about to give the order to Lieutenant-Colonel Cram, he gave it to his regiment, which was then receiving most of the fire hitherto directed against the Nineteenth. The Eleventh Kentucky moved back about the same time, and both of these regiments, almost in line with some of the enemy's troops, were the last regiments to quit the field--the Nineteenth Ohio leaving first, because first exposed to the flanking fire.

"We fell back, fighting, though in some disorder, crossed the river, rallied under a very heavy fire, checked the enemy, and held him in check until we were re-enforced, when, I with the flags of the Nineteenth Ohio and Ninth Kentucky, recrossed the river, followed closely by Lieutenant Colonel Cram, Majors Mottley and Manderson, men and officers from the Nineteenth Ohio, Ninth and Eleventh Kentucky, Lieutenant Philip Reefy holding the colors of the Nineteenth, and Private Moses Rourk those of the Ninth Kentucky. The Twenty-first Ohio, led by Captain , acting major, promptly followed. Our troops now crossed rapidly and opened fire on the south side of the river.

"Observing that the men would follow and stand by their colors, I here took the flag of my own regiment (the Ninth Kentucky), and, riding forward, called on the troops to advance, to which they gallantly responded, and, rushing upon the enemy, drove them with great slaughter from and past the ground which they had occupied before the attack, the Eleventh Kentucky taking a stand of colors, and the three regiments capturing four of the enemy's guns (the Washington Artillery), the colors of the Nineteenth Ohio and the Ninth Kentucky Volunteers being the first to reach them. Lieutenant-Colonel Cram, of the Ninth,and Major Mottley, of the Eleventh Kentucky, with myself, were the first mounted officers at these guns. All three of the above regiments were represented there, and at all times in the most advanced and exposed positions. Lieutenant-Colonel Cram and Major Mottley ordered off a gun each, and I ordered off two. In short, each and every officer and man in these three regiments was all that could be asked, and far above the reach of encomiums.

"Of Lieutenant-Colonel Cram, Ninth Kentucky, Major Manderson, Nineteenth Ohio, and Major Mottley, Eleventh Kentucky, I make special mention as the commanders on that day of their respective regiments. I refer to their reports accompanying this for more special notice than I can here take of the officers and men under their commands.

"The result of the day was, the enemy retreated in haste and disorder, acknowledging a defeat, and evacuated Murfreesborough the next day. We bivouacked that night on the battle-field."

Stones River is considered by historians to be a tactical victory for the Confederates, but Bragg lacked the strength to destroy Rosecrans' larger army or drive it from the field. The Union had placed over 41,000 troops on the field, of which they lost over 12,000. The Confederates lost over 11,000 of the nearly 35,000 troops committed. On the night of 3 January, Bragg withdrew through Murfreesboro toward Shelbyville. Rosecrans did not pursue. It was not until June that Rosecrans renewed operations in this area when his Tullahoma Campaign set the stage for the Chickamauga and Chattanooga Campaigns.

Following the Battle of Stones River the 19th OVI was on duty at Murfreesboro until June, and participated in the Middle Tennessee or Tullahoma Campaign from June 22, 1863 to July 7, 1863. The unit saw action at Liberty Gap June 22-24. On July 22, 1863, Francis Gaume was honorably discharged at McMinnville, Tennessee on order of the War Dept.

In 1864, he signed up once more; this time joining the 162nd Regiment. This regiment of the Ohio Volunteer Infantry, originally an Ohio National Guard Unit, was organized under Colonel Ephraim Ball for 100 days service. Forming in May 1864, it moved into Kentucky to repel John Hunt Morgan.

On May 2, 1864, Frank Gaume re-enlisted at Canton, Ohio as a Private in company "B", 162nd OVI. The 162nd Regiment Infantry was organized at Camp Chase, Ohio, and mustered out in May 20, 1864. Camp Chase, near Columbus, was a prison camp for captured Confederate soldiers.

On June 11, Companies "B," "D," "E," "G," "H" and "I" moved to Covington, Kentucky. Two companies were mounted and the Regiment did post duty at Covington and other points until the expiration of its term of service. It was mustered out September 4, 1864. Companies "A," "C," "F" and "K" were on duty at Tod Barracks, Columbus, Ohio, until September 4.

During the summer of 1864, the 162nd OVI was on expedition to Carrollton, Kentucky, in search of Moses Webster's men. It, also, performed duty at Carrollton and Covington, Kentucky, recruiting for the 117th United States Colored Troops and arresting prominent Rebels until September. Could my gg-grandfather Frank Gaume possibly have crossed-paths with my other gg-grandfather, Richard Bannon, in the summer of 1864?